[3] Turner attended a special school for the visually impaired in Santee, California, where he refused to learn Braille.

He was good at it and began training at Gene Fisher's Gym, eventually earning a sixth-degree black belt in Wado-Kai karate.

[4] In 1972, Turner auditioned for a small non-profit San Diego Christian theater operated by television actor Steve Terrell, and he performed for six years with the "Lamb's Players Theatre".

[1] He was later introduced to stuntman Bobby Yerkes, who taught him to swing on the trapeze, walk a tight rope, and take high falls.

He has conducted motivational lectures for international corporations and government agencies and created and performed a family entertainment program for schoolchildren, featuring a comedy routine co-starring his wife as schoolmarm "Miss Guided", his assistant.

[10][11] In 2010, Turner was asked by director Terrence Malick to cheat Brad Pitt's character at the blackjack table in the film The Tree of Life.